Follow through
by solstjerne
Summary: The Marauders and co. are back at Hogwarts for their seventh year. Things are starting to get serious with the N.E.W.T's coming up or are things getting serious? Of course there will be love, laughter, pranks, quidditch, etc.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: So I have been doing some Christmas cleaning on some of my stories, and decided to change a few things. I decided to combine the two stories Hibiscus and Marigold and Amaranth. I realized a few things were confusing so I'm starting with the marauders being in their seventh year (were Amaranth started), while using a few of the things from Hibiscus and Marigold. So if you ever read any of those stories – erase everything from your memory because we are starting all over ;). Enjoy.

**Chapter 1**

She took a deep breath as she looked up at the huge building in front of her. It seemed bigger than the last time she saw it, but she knew nothing had been added to it. She slowly pushed the gate open and started walking up the narrow path leading to the front door. The grass on either side of the path could use a cut. As could the bushes. The sky above her was cloud-free and the sun was shining brightly, warming her bare arms. It was still early. She was wearing a plain white top and a navy blue skirt. It felt like the path would never end, but she finally reached the door. On a small golden plate she read the name _Potter_.

She swallowed hard and took out her wand. With a simple spell she was able to push the door open. It gave a painful squeak as if it had not been opened for a long time. She took a step inside and saw the familiar entrance. To her left a door was leading to the living room, and on her right another door, this one leading to the kitchen and dining room. She had been here so many times before, but this time it was different. This time something was missing. She knew exactly what it was.

The jet-black haired girl walked over to a nearby wall. Here hang a picture. A girl looking a lot like herself, a boy looking much like the girl, and a man were smiling brightly, while waving energetic at her. They seemed so happy.

She reached out and touched the picture, though knowing nothing would happen. She knew the people in the picture. The young girl was in fact herself, and the boy her brother. The man was their father, though he had died almost six months before. He was the one missing in the house. He was the one, who made the house seem emptier than ever before. This was the first time she was back in the Potter residence after his death. She had been spending her holiday at her best friend's house. Her brother had decided to go on a trip for the summer, though he promised to be back before the star of school. He still had two weeks to get home before the Hogwarts Express would be leaving Kings Cross.

She had arranged to meet her boyfriend here. She would be spending the rest of the summer holidays with him, and she hoped she could talk him into not staying here. It had too many memories for her to handle at the moment. She walked over to a cupboard and ran a finger over the top of it. The finger was grey of dust when she looked at it. Nothing else was to be expected, when no one had lived at the residence for six months. She heard a loud _crack_ behind her, causing her to jump in surprise. She turned around, expecting to see her boyfriend, but instead a familiar black-haired boy stood in front of her.

"Well don't look so surprised, Joey" he said after a while.

Joey shook her head, realising she had been staring at him wide-eyed. "What are you doing here, Sirius?" It sounded a lot colder than she wanted it to.

"It's good to see you too," he said, obviously noticing the coldness in her voice. She had not seen him all summer, which was quite unusual since he used to stay with her and her brother here in this house. "I'm meeting Remus. Apparently he invited both of us to stay at his house the next two weeks."

Joey thought about it for a while. "But if he hasn't invited you before now, what have you been doing the past two months?"

He took a step closer to her, and a smirk appeared on his face. "I've been around," he answered. "I visited my parents, though that was not a pleasant visit, so that only lasted for two days. Then I stayed with Peter for a while, and for the rest of the time, I have just been running around."

"Running around?" Joey asked with raised eyebrows.

"Yeah," he said grinning, "you know, letting my inner dog loose."

She didn't question or comment this. Mainly, because she wasn't really sure what to say. There was an awkward silence between them. Joey stared at her feet, occasionally glancing over at the picture she had been looking at not too long ago. She, her brother and her father were still waving at her. She wished they would stop. "Have you heard from James?" She asked.

"Once or twice."

"I guess our speeches didn't work that well," Joey said with a small laugh, remembering the take-care-and-remember-to-write-every-week speech she and Sirius had given her brother, James, before he left.

"I guess not," Sirius answered simply again.

"Though he is not the only one, who hasn't been writing all summer," Joey said eyeing Sirius. He looked at her with an emotionless expression. "It's not like you to stay out of touch, or to answer simply."

"Yeah well you don't tell me things, so I don't see why I should tell you what I'm up to."

"What?" Joey yelled angrily.

"You perfectly knew Angelica was gonna break up with me," Sirius yelled back. "It would have been nice to know what was gonna happen, before I made myself look like a jerk in front of her. I was talking about how I wanted our relationship to go well, and two seconds later she says she has found someone else, and don't think our relationship is going anywhere. I could have saved myself from that speech."

"It couldn't have hurt you to make that speech! Besides I thought you were over her. It has been almost two months, and you never stay sad for that long!"

"I _am_ over her, but that is not the point. I looked like a jerk on that Quidditch pitch!"

"I figured you would want to hear it from Angelica herself. I would be really angry if you were the one to tell me Remus wishes to break up with me."

Sirius was quiet after this. "Then a hint or something," he finally spoke up, "so I could be prepared."

Joey's voice calmed as his had just done. "Fine, I'll remember that next time then." Sirius smiled at this, which she returned.

_Crack_

Suddenly a blond-haired boy appeared behind them. He was a bit smaller than Sirius, but they looked of the same age. "Am I interrupting something?" He asked when he saw their smiles.

"Not at all, Remus" Joey said, her smile growing wider. She walked over to him and gave him a hug, which he returned. She did not wish to give him a kiss in front of Sirius. "We should get going," she continued hastily, wanting to leave her childhood home.

Remus nodded knowingly and with yet another _crack_, the three of them left the Potter residence. Before they knew it they were standing before a much smaller house, nevertheless a charming one. It looked very peaceful. "Well here we are," Remus said, trying to catch Joey's face expression out of the corner of his left eye. When she realised what he was doing, she send him a smile, which he returned.

"Feels good to be back," Sirius said and took a deep breath, as if he had been in a polluted city for a long time, not being able to breathe the fresh air you can find in the country sides.

Suddenly the door burst open and small blond-haired woman came running out of the house. "Welcome home!" she said with a motherly voice and hugged Remus tight.

"Really mother, I have only been gone about an hour," Remus said with a squeaky voice. Apparently Mrs. Lupin was squeezing him so hard he could barely breathe. When she finally let go, Remus took a few breaths before introducing Sirius and Joey. "I take it you remember Sirius," he said nodding to Sirius.

"Of course!" Mrs. Lupin yelled happily. She gave Sirius the same turn she had just given Remus. Sirius accepted it with a smile. It wasn't the first time she had given him that hug. "And who do we have here?" She asked excitedly when she noticed Joey.

"This is Joey," Remus answered. "Joey Potter."

"Oh my," Mrs. Lupin said, taking a closer look at Joey. "Harold!" she yelled. "HAROLD!" Suddenly a man appeared in the doorway next to Mrs. Lupin. He was wearing reading glasses and had the _Daily Prophet_ under his arm. He looked annoyed at first, but then his expression softened. "Harold, this is Joey Potter."

"Oh," Mr. Lupin said thoughtful. "Pleasure to meet you Ms. Potter. Remus has told so much about you."

Joey noticed Remus blushing slightly. She let out a short laugh. "Only good things I hope."

"Aren't you a sweetheart?!" Mrs. Lupin asked. She gave Joey a tight hug. "You are just skin and bones, dear, you must be hungry." Before Joey could answer, Mrs. Lupin was dragging her inside the house. "Don't worry, I'll make anything you like."

Both Remus and Sirius laughed. They entered the house and sat down in the living room with Mr. Lupin. "So any interesting news, Mr. L?" Sirius asked, referring to the newspaper Mr. Lupin had been reading.

"Well now that you ask, Sirius," Mr. Lupin answered. He opened the news paper and leafed through a few pages. He finally stopped and pointed at an article. Next to the article was a picture of a moving Minister of Magic. He looked very serious and concerned. Both Sirius and Remus leaned in to get a closer look at the picture. "You probably recognise the minister Wallace Crouch. For the first time he speaks up about Auror business. Of course it is not much, but as he says, they need to warn people."

"Warn us about what?" Remus asked.

"About these Death Eaters and their leader." Mr. Lupin continued pointing at a certain paragraph in the article. "For the first time they have finally identified one of them. The Aurors have been tracking him for a while, and when they finally met him face to face, they were attacked by more than one Death Eater. The Death Eater they were looking for, Wilkes, died in the battle, but before he died he took an Auror with him in death. The rest of the Death Eaters got away. This is not mentioned in the article, but a colleague of mine told the story one day."

"Doesn't it say how many Death Eaters the Aurors were attacked by?" Sirius asked.

"No. You know the minister; he doesn't wish to say more than what is necessary."

"So why did they start tracking this Wilkes in the first place?" Remus continued the questioning. "He must have done something to make the Aurors start looking for him."

"According to the article he has killed some muggles, and threatening a few wizards in full public view, in the middle of Diagon Alley."

"He doesn't sound like the brightest one," Sirius concluded. "So what was the intention with the article? To let us know that there are more Death Eaters out there?" Sirius asked.

"Something like that," Mr. Lupin said thoughtfully. He paused for a while to think it through. "The ministry is aware that this could turn out to be dangerous to civilians, which is why they need to be warned, but on the other hand they are not sure what they are up against. They are still not sure, who the leader is, or what his intentions are."

"Are you sure a lot of students will be returning to Hogwarts then?" Remus asked.

"I wouldn't worry about that. They have larger protection at Hogwarts than the children would have at home. The students are constantly surrounded by professors, not to mention Headmaster Dumbledore."

Both Sirius and Remus nodded. Mr. Lupin was right, with all the professors around no student would have something to fear. Remus eyes glanced down at the paper again. The minister was still looking very serious. His eyes travelled to the paragraph about Wilkes death. He suddenly remembered something his father had just told him and Sirius. "Dad, you said something about an Auror dying along with Wilkes. Who was the Auror?" He asked.

Sirius looked up as well to hear the answer. A trace of sadness came across Mr. Lupin's face. He took a sip of the cup standing on the coffee table. It didn't look like the tea in it was warm. With a very low and weak voice he answered, "David Potter."

Just then Joey and Mrs. Lupin entered the living room, both with a smile on their face. "Your mother makes the best scrambled eggs, I have ever tasted," Joey stated and sat down on the couch next to Remus. She had plate with the scrambled eggs in one hand, and a fork in the other. Suddenly she noticed the strange expression on both Sirius and Remus' faces. She looked over at Mr. Lupin, who had the same sad, yet serious face expression. "What's going on?" she asked suddenly with a lower voice.

"Nothing," Remus answered, realising how they had not exactly been handling the news. "Nothing at all," he smiled at her, but she did not return it right away. He knew he hadn't convinced her. He decided to change the subject. "Do you have any more of that scrambled eggs?" He asked his mother, who smiled.

"Make that two," Sirius said happily. Naturally he would cheer up whenever food was the subject. Mrs. Lupin hurried into the kitchen, and in a matter of seconds, she returned with two plates, which she handed to Sirius and Remus. They immediately started eating; ignoring the suspicious looks the got from Joey.

A week later, Remus, Joey and Sirius were walking down Diagon Alley. They had all three received their book list a few days before, and with only a week left before they had to leave to Hogwarts, they decided it was time to get their shopping done. The article from the ministry had clearly been read by a lot, and a lot had reacted to it. There weren't a lot of people on the street. Most were running from store to store, not wanting to spend more time than necessary in the open.

Outside Flourish and Blotts, the three of them split up. Joey saw Lily inside the store, and Remus and Sirius wanted to get some ice cream. A new ice cream parlour had opened not too long ago, by a young wizard named Florean Fortescue. Inside Remus and Sirius noticed a friendly face. "Hello Peter," Remus greeted their friend as they joined him by the counter. Peter was already half done with a pumpkin sundae.

"It's not really a surprise to see you two in here," Peter laughed.

"Ditto," Sirius grinned. "So what is good in here?"

"About everything," a young witch said from behind the counter. "What can I get for you?"

Sirius looked up and met her blue eyes. She had brown hair, which looked good with the uniform she was wearing. A lock of this brown hair fell from her shoulder. Sirius followed it with his eyes, until he saw a name on her uniform. It read _Theresa._

"Theresa," Sirius said confidently. "What do you think is really good?"

Theresa smiled slightly. "Well personally I _love_ the vanilla-chocolate chip."

Sirius smiled back, "A vanilla-chocolate chip it is then." Without taking his eyes of Theresa he asked, "What about you, Moony?"

"That pumpkin sundae doesn't look bad," Remus said.

"Coming right up," Theresa said and broke the eye contact between her and Sirius.

"And here I thought you would last a summer without flirting, Padfoot," Peter said when Theresa wouldn't hear them.

Sirius laughed, but didn't comment on it. A few seconds later, Theresa returned with their ice creams. Peter and Remus retired to a table in the back of the parlour, but right by the window so they could look out on the street. Not that anything interesting was happening out there. Sirius remained at the counter and got into a deep conversation with Theresa.

"So if you go to Hogwarts, then why haven't I seen you around?" Sirius asked after having learned they went to the same school.

"I'm a sixth year," she said after having thought about it for a while. "And a Ravenclaw."

"Right," Sirius said, "well you must have heard of me then. Sirius Black?"

"Only by rumour."

"A good one?"

She looked closely at him. "Depends on how you interpret the rumour. You know the saying, 'Don't believe everything you hear.' Now when I have met you it is believable."

Sirius let out a laugh. "And how have you interpreted this rumour you have heard?"

She thought about it for a while. "That what you did was inventive, original, imaginative, rather funny and slightly… disgusting."

Sirius laughed again. "Sounds like something I would do." Theresa smiled in return, "so what are you doing here, instead of enjoying you holiday?"

"It's just a summer job. The money is good, and I get to eat ice cream and flirt with boys while being paid."

"Funny," Sirius said sarcastically. He could tell by her laugh that the last fact probably wasn't true, but he couldn't really be sure.

"Sorry Romeo, but we should get going." Remus came up to them after a while. "We still need to buy our books."

Sirius nodded, "Promise me you'll find me at Hogwarts," he said to Theresa. She nodded with a smile. He smiled at her one last time, before walking out of the ice cream parlour with Remus and Peter.

They walked down Diagon Alley until they reached Flourish and Blotts again. The store was full of Hogwarts students doing the last minute shopping. After a long time searching they finally found Joey and Lily in a corner on the second floor. "Hey Evans," Sirius greeted Lily using her surname. "Why are the two of you hiding in a corner?"

"To avoid my sister," Lily answered simply.

"I thought your sister hated everything about magic," Remus said.

"She does," Lily reassured him, "My parents forced her to go, because they thought they could hit two birds with one rock, and go wedding dress shopping while they were in London."

"When is the wedding?"

"Christmas," Lily said annoyingly. "It is not like it is coming up in a few days, so I don't get why we have to buy the dress already."

"Because it is _my_ wedding, and _I_ get to choose the time of when we go shopping." A voice suddenly said behind them. They turned and saw Lily's sister Petunia walking up to them. She had a very small, but mean smile on her slim face. "Personally I don't get why _you_ had to pick the same day as I." She spat at Lily. "This dirty place suits you and your – _kind_," Her large pale eyes glanced at Joey, Sirius, Remus and Peter, who all raised eyebrows. "We have to go, Lily, so if you are done showing off that ugly badge, and having your once in a lifetime moment of shine, lets get out of here fast." With that she turned and walked down the stairs to rejoin her parents, who had their hands full of Lily's new books.

"Moment of shine?" Sirius asked.

"What badge?" Joey asked before Lily could answer the first question.

"Well, I…" Lily started, obviously struggling to get the right words out. "Dumbledore send me a badge along with my book list." She spoke quietly.

"I knew you would make Head Girl!" Joey said excitedly. She hugged her friend happily. "Why didn't you say anything before?"

"I wished to save my so called 'moment of shine' for later," Lily said and rolled her eyes, though she was not able to hide the smile, which slowly formed on her lips. "I better get going." She hugged Joey once again. "I will see you on the Express." Joey nodded with a smile. Lily followed her sister's trail and walked out of the store with her parents and sister.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

It was very early on the first of September, when Lily found herself sitting by her window, looking up at the clouds that had slowly formed in the sky. She would be leaving for school today. The familiar butterflies started flying around in her stomach, as they had did the very first time she stepped onto the Hogwarts Express seven years ago. They had come every year since then, because every year she would go into something new. This year it was her final year, and not only that, she was the Headgirl.

Headgirl. She was not sure how she was going to handle that one. Dumbledore seemed to have faith in her. She had not been told who the Headboy was. Remus hadn't looked like he was keeping a secret when she had told them she was Headgirl, so she guessed he was not going to be her 'partner in crime', as Sirius had called it, like they had been the previous year. Honestly she had no idea who was going to be Headboy. It could easily be someone from one of the other houses.

Her thoughts wandered on. James Potter. He had been there for her when she had felt alone. Then again, she could never decide what she thought about him. He could be the sweet, caring James in one minute, and the next he would be pulling pranks on some innocent first year. James Potter had always been popular, and every girl's dream, but nevertheless a jerk. She had given him the benefit of a doubt but he had ruined that chance as well. As she thought about him, she realized he would probably never change. In a way, she hoped he would.

As her mind kept dancing around his name, she suddenly remembered something. She went over to her desk and took out an old book. She opened it and between to pages she found a dried flower. She remembered the day Joey had given her the flower, informing her that is was from her brother. Lily had no idea what the flower was supposed to symbolise, but she kept it close anyway. She had used it in the beginning of the holiday, when her mind had forced her to think about him. His missing presence had become more and more clear to her further through the summer, and she had not needed to look at the flower that often. James had chosen to go see the world over the summer, leaving his friends and sister behind. Of course Joey had been upset when he told her.

"Lily darling, we have to leave now," she heard her mother call.

"Coming," Lily called back. She let out a small sigh to get the butterflies to calm down a bit. Finally she closed her trunk, which had been sitting on her bed, and carried it downstairs. Her parents were waiting outside by the car. As she had expected her sister was not there.

"Oh Petunia went to see Vernon earlier this morning," her mother explained. "She is sorry she couldn't be there."

Lily nodded but she highly doubted her sister was sorry she would not be there to say goodbye. She got into the car and before she knew it they were at King's Cross station. After some persuading she was now standing by the Hogwarts Express, saying goodbye to her parents. They were never comfortable about going through a brick wall to get to platform 9 ¾.

Soon the whistle was blown, and Lily hurried onto the train. She walked down the narrow corridor looking for some familiar faces. She found none of her friend or an empty compartment. Finally she heard someone call her name. She spun around and saw Joey running towards her.

"I've been looking for you everywhere!" Joey said.

"Well I've been looking for _you_ everywhere," Lily laughed and gave her friend a hug. "Have you seen Angelica and Simone around?"

"They couldn't find an empty compartment either, but they found one with two Ravenclaw boys," Joey explained. "Apparently they both broke up with their boyfriends over the summer." Lily nodded. She had been written and received letters from both Simone and Angelica over the summer. Joey continued, "So let's go find somewhere to sit."

"Actually," Lily said hesitating, "I'm sorry Joey, but I have a meeting with the prefects. I was hoping to find you before that." 

"I'm glad you did," Joey said with a smile. "Don't worry about, you can find me afterwards. I'll go find the guys to see if James has returned. Oh by the way, who's Headboy this year?"

"I don't know. The letter Dumbledore send me said nothing about it."

Joey thought about it for a while then shrugged, "Oh well, let me in on the gossip later, all right?"

Lily let out a laugh, "Sure." With that she walked away from her friend. She kept walking until she reached the last compartment at the end of the train. She had been here before, a year ago to be exact. She opened the door and found eight students all looking at her.

"Congratulations Evans," a boy in Hufflepuff robes said, "It looks like your partner in crime has not shown up yet."

Lily had seen him before. She recognised him as Gerald Dougall, a particular annoying fifth year. Lily avoided speaking of this out loud, though she did wonder to herself why Dumbledore had chosen to make him prefect for the Hufflepuff house. "Does anyone by any change know who is Headboy this year?"

All eight shook their head. "Right," Lily said quietly. She walked a bit further into the compartment and took a seat where she knew they would all be able to see her. She was also aware that this was the place where the Headgirl would usually sit. "We better get started then. You are probably all aware of the duties a prefect has once we get to Hogwarts. You are to make sure the first years are greeted probably by the house they are sorted into, as well as showing them the way to the common room."

Gerald Dougall had a tired look on his face, but Lily chose to ignore this. Most of the other students seemed interested. "There is a reason there has been picked two students from each house. You are to use the other person as best as you can. You will soon learn that with a little help from another person, you will get the most effective results." She took a pause to let out a small sigh. "Speaking of experience there is nothing worse than being left behind with duties assigned to two people. Whether you like it or not you will have to learn to compromise."

The meeting between the new Headgirl and the coming prefects continued, involving discussions mostly started by Gerald Dougall. Finally the meeting seemed to come to an end. "Now if you have any questions whatsoever, feel free to contact me or whoever is the new Headboy." The students got up and the compartment slowly emptied.

Lily remained back – she wasn't sure why, but she felt like she need some space to just breath. 'Speaking of experience there is nothing worse than being left behind with duties assigned to two people,' the words replayed in her head. 'Speaking of experience' had been the correct words to use. She was determined to have a serious talk with this Headboy when he would finally show up.

She stood up and looked out of the window. Trees, bushes and rocks passed by fast as she knew the train was getting closer and closer to Hogwarts. "I guess I missed the meeting," a voice suddenly said behind her. She had been so far away in her own thoughts that she jumped in surprise to the sound of a stranger's voice. She spun around, still feeling the fast pounding in her chest. Suddenly it started pounding even fast – if that was even possible. "Hey," the person spoke again.

Lily swallowed hard. "Hey," she managed to say with a quiet, weak voice. She took a deep breath, looking slightly at the ground. "You're late," she finally spoke again, this time with a stronger voice.

"Which is what I just said," The black haired boy took a step further into the compartment. "It's not exactly a surprise to see you as Headgirl."

"Thanks I guess, but I can't say it doesn't come as a surprise that you are Headboy."

"I guess it doesn't."

There was a short silence between them. Lily studied the boy in front of her. Why hadn't he fired a smart comment right back at her? He did look the same as the last time she had seen him. He still had messy black hair, long nose and glasses. His skin was a bit more tanned than she remembered, but that was the only physical difference she noticed. "You're late." She finally spoke up.

"I said that already and so did you. I'm sorry."

He's sorry? Now he had really gotten her confused. "Listen Potter," she said, but didn't manage to continue from there. That had been a great opportunity from him to say something smart like he had always done in the past. James Potter, a member of the infamous Marauders, and known as one of the best prankster at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Wizards like James Potter always had a thing or two ready to say, which would make everyone around laugh. He actually used this even when no one was around. "I don't know why Dumbledore made us work together – and frankly, I don't think I'm ever going to find out – but I do not want to be stuck with all our duties while you are off pulling a prank with the Marauders."

"I was not off pulling a prank," James said calmly.

"Don't think I care what you were doing, I just want to set a good example for the prefects, and believe it or not that requires your help." Perfect. This was beyond a great opportunity for him to play cool and maybe even start flirting with her.

"I got lost."

"Beg your pardon?" What?

"I got lost."

"We are on a _train_, Potter. It's a long corridor with compartments on each side. There are not exactly a lot of secret passage ways or chambers."

"I know, but unlike you I have not been in this compartment before – therefore I was not aware where the meeting was supposed to be held."

Lily's mood brightened a bit when he said this. James Potter was back. That speech had just proved that he still was a Marauder. "So you decided to find the Marauders and spend some time with them instead of trying to find this compartment."

"I hardly think what you are doing here is fair, Evans. Even if I had found their compartment, it wouldn't have been too much to ask to say hello to your friends and sister, who you have not seen for almost three months, is it? Fortunately for you that was not the case. I've been walking up and down corridor, checking every compartment for the past hour."

This left her with no more words to say. Lily thought she had planned out this conversation perfectly, and that it only needed to be put to life. He was probably doing this on purpose. "Well you found it, but like I said the meeting is over." She started walking towards the door where James was standing. "Excuse me, we have already arrived at Hogsmeade Station." With that she walked passed him and out in the corridor, which was now slowly filling with students.

Meanwhile Joey, Sirius, Peter and Remus were almost already at Hogwarts. "He better have a good explanation for not being on that train!" Joey said angrily as they entered the Entrance Hall. The students around them continued towards the Great Hall, but the four of them moved over to the side and stopped.

"I'm sure he does have a good explanation," Remus said trying to calm her down a bit. Joey looked at him with raised eyebrows. "I just can't think of what that might be," he continued when everyone's eyes landed upon him.

More and more students passed them. Some nodded towards them in greeting they returned the nod with a smile. "Hey Jo," a boy with dark hair said as he passed them on his way into the Great Hall, "Did you have a great summer?" He was wearing Gryffindor robes as well

Joey answered with a smile, "I can't complain. Yours?"

"Great. I better try to find Emily – see you later." he waved and continued into the Great Hall.

Sirius, Remus and Peter looked at Joey for an explanation. "Who was that?" Remus asked.

"That was Michael Dawson," Joey said, "he is in our year – and house for that matter. He is dating Emily Davis from Ravenclaw" She explained.

"Oh," Remus said thoughtfully. "When did you start talking to him?"

Joey opened her mouth to answer when they heard a voice call behind them. "Hey guys."

They all turned and found a familiar boy with messy black hair behind them. "James!" Joey said with a smile and ran into his open arms. James hugged her back happily. "What ever took you so long?" she asked angrily, hitting him lightly once he let go of her again. James opened his mouth to say something, when Joey suddenly noticed something shiny on his robes. "No way!" she said happily again, "You're captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team _and_ headboy? Way to go."

"Thank you," James said calmly with a smile. He saw his friends standing behind Joey. Once she noticed him looking over her shoulder, she took a step to the right so he could walk past her. "Hey mate," James said with a smile as he gave Sirius a hug. He greeted Remus and Peter with a hug as well.

"Long time no see," Sirius grinned. "How have you been?"

"Good," James answered. "But I guess the trip got a bit lonely in the end."

"Aww," Peter said with a small grin, "Told you he would miss us," he continued aiming his point at Joey, Remus and Sirius.

"Of course I did," James said. A grin suddenly formed on his lips. "And the excellent feast they prepare here."

"Feast!" Sirius said happily. "The magic word." He started walking into the great hall with Peter and James.

Joey was about to follow them but Remus caught her arm, which made her stop. She looked up at him wondering what he wanted. "Erm…" Remus started uncertain. "That Dawson guy…" He managed to say, thinking carefully about the words that were about to come out of his mouth. Joey raised her eyebrows slightly and continued listening. "Anything going on between the two of you?"

The question came as a surprise to Joey. She looked up at him in confusion, but the expression in his face told her he was serious. "Not jealous are you, Remus Lupin?" Joey said with a slight smirk. She noticed him feeling slightly uncomfortable and lost for words. She took a step towards him and looked up into his eyes. "He's just a friend, Remus. And he has a girlfriend."

"Oh," Remus said quickly. "Just making sure I guess."

Joey laughed a little. "Cute," she said and leaned up and place a kiss on his lips, which he returned. "Hungry?" she asked him once they pulled apart.

"Starving." Joey smiled and took his hand and walked into the Great Hall. They saw the rest of the Marauders already sitting at the Gryffindor table, waiting impatiently for the food to appear. Remus and Joey were some of the last students to arrive to the Great hall.

Professor Dumbledore stood up and did his usual speech. Slowly the first years were sorted into the four different houses. They all looked extremely nervous, but once the hat had placed them in a house, and cheer sounded from a specific table, they let out a sigh of relief. "Seems years ago, doesn't it?" Sirius asked. "When it was us standing up there."

"It was years ago, Padfoot," Peter said as they all sat down again after having cheered because another first year had been sorted into the Gryffindor house.

"I know," Sirius said, "But that was not what I meant."

"You were thinking about us having to leave soon," James said to Sirius, who nodded slightly.

"And never come back," Remus finished.

"Come on guys," Joey said and looked around at the four Marauders, "You make it all sound so depressing. We only just got back for our seventh year. We have an entire year to do everything we want to do, before we have to leave Hogwarts."

"Like pranks," Peter said with a grin, suddenly realizing Joey had a point.

"I'm telling you guys," Sirius said joining in on the grin. "This is going to be the best year ever." They all laughed because that was what Sirius would say every year.

A few days later James and Joey were walking together towards the Quidditch pitch. James hadn't been as tough this year as he had been last year, so he had not started practice up yet. The sun was out, shining beautifully over the Black Lake, so the two of them had decided to go for a fly.

"So," James said. "Looks like you and Remus are doing alright."

"Yeah," Joey said with a small smile as they turned a corner and continued walking down yet another corridor. "We are."

"I guess I owe you an apology. I was wrong about him, Jo," James said thoughtfully. Joey looked at her brother not sure what he was talking about. He noticed that and continued explaining, "Remember when I noticed you and Remus liked each other? I reacted in a way that I shouldn't have. I believed that since he was a Marauder, he would end up hurting you like -" he stopped for a second to see her reaction to that but nothing had changed in her expression. "Yeah well – I was wrong. You were right about Remus being the most serious of the four of us."

"Even I had forgotten that James," Joey said calmly. "Why are you saying this all of a sudden anyway?"

"I did some thinking on my journey." He kept that serious and thoughtful expression in his face. "I decided it was time for a few changes in my life."

"Wow," Joey said surprised. "May I ask what made you decide that?"

"I guess a lot of things really," James answered. "Us loosing the Quidditch cup last year after I had made you practice so hard, the constant pranks and not caring about school, and finally," he paused a little and let out a sigh. "I'm sick of dating most of the girls at school, when my head was... well somewhere else."

"Somewhere else meaning on a certain girl?" Joey smiled and raised her eyebrows slightly.

"I suppose, but that's in the past now. I guess I can never have that girl – I have accepted that. So the next time I will be dating again it will be with someone I really like."

"Good for you," Joey stopped once they were outside and looked at him. James stopped and turned around. "But promise me something, James." He nodded. "Don't change too much. I don't want the old James Potter to go completely away. A prank here and there never hurt anyone. You and Sirius have been doing that for the longest time – so I guess that is a part of you. Somehow."

"I promise." James said and smiled. "So how about that fly?"

Joey smiled and mounted her broom. "Let's see if you even remember how to fly, after not having been on a broom the entire summer." James laughed and followed her into the air.

Across the castle, Remus, Sirius and Peter were sitting in the Great Hall. "I don't get it!" Sirius complained. "We've only been back for three days and we already have homework. I think I might break a record this year, and be behind already after five or six days." Remus smiled and shook his head a little before looking into his book again.

"Guess that's what life is like in the final year," Peter said with a shrug and opened his potions book.

Sirius let out a sigh as he opened his book as well. He read one sentence then looked up again with yet another sigh. He looked around the Great Hall. There weren't many students around them. He suddenly recognized one of the Ravenclaw girls standing in one corner of the Great Hall. He knew he had seen her somewhere, but where? It suddenly hit him. "Actually," he said and looked at Remus and Peter, "Breaking that record doesn't sound as such a bad idea." He grinned and closed his book. He put it into his bag and picked it up then walked towards the three girls. Remus and Peter looked at each other and shook their heads before returning to their studying.

"So Theresa," Sirius said once he got over to the three sixth year, Ravenclaw girls. "I remember you promising to find me once, we got back to Hogwarts." He aimed his point at the girl standing in the middle.

She smiled, so he knew he had found the right girl. "You're way ahead of me, Mr. Black," Theresa said with a small smile and took a step towards him. "You hardly gave me a chance to do so."

Sirius smirked slightly as he leaned against a wall. "So do you mind that I found you first?"

"I never said that." The two girls behind her giggled lightly.

Sirius looked over her shoulder at them and they both turned red. He smiled slightly and looked back at Theresa. "How about you meet me outside the library tomorrow night?"

"From what I've heard that's not a place you set your food very often," Theresa pointed out.

This time it was Sirius' turn to take a step forward. He leaned down slightly and whispered in her ear, "I never said we were going into library.

Theresa looked up at him. "I'll see you tomorrow," she said simply before walking past him. Her two friends followed her quickly looking back over their shoulders.

As the three girls came out of the Great Hall they passed Joey and James, who had just gotten back from their flight. "You talked to Sirius Black!" One of the girls said. "You actually talked to him. Are you aware of the number of girls, who would do anything to receive a smile from him?"

"It's nothing," Theresa said and shook her head slightly.

"Actually," the other girl said. "I think I prefer James Potter more. I heard he is Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team again this year – so he wouldn't be such a bad catch. Plus he is not bad looking at all."

James smiled to himself. Once they were in the Great Hall and where the three girls wouldn't hear them, Joey spoke up, "Don't flatter yourself too much," she laughed slightly.

"Why not?" James asked with a grin. "After all I'm not a bad catch."

Joey rolled her eyes with a laugh. "Now I recognize the old James."

A/N: There you go. I'm starting on the third chapter right away, but I won't make any promises of when it will be done. I'll try to hurry though ;)

Big thanks to Princess Eclpise and CluelessWanderer

Review! – (they really do make me write faster)


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"And finally: we need to keep an eye on the Slytherin prefects – rumours say they have been sneaking out after curfew," Lily said early one morning. She was having one of her first meetings with the Head Boy. "And communicating seems to be a problem between the Hufflepuff prefects." She finished.

"Looks like there's a lot to do," James said. The two of them had been sitting in the empty Gryffindor common room for about half an hour, going over a few complaints and discussing various other things. "How about you talk to the Slytherins?" James asked and looked over at Lily. He couldn't help but smile a little as he explained, "I mean, I have a feeling they won't take it seriously, if I'm the one telling them to stay in the common room after curfew."

"They probably won't," Lily said and smiled a little. It was only a short one, and once she noticed she was smiling, she expected some cheesy comment from James. But he didn't say anything.

"Right," James continued. "So I'll go talk to the Hufflepuff prefects right away if we're done here." Lily looked at the parchment in front of her, then back up at James and nodded. "Hopefully I can get some sense knocked into Smith's head," James continued. "Dumbledore must have had his reasons to choose him as prefect – Smith just needs to figure out what those reasons were." James gathered his things into his bag and stood up. "As do we," he whispered with a small smile. Lily tried to hide a small giggle as she watched him walk out through the portrait hole.

"Is it possible," A familiar voice said behind Lily, giving her a fright, "that you managed to have a conversation with my brother without yelling?"

Lily turned around and saw her best friend leaning against the wall with a smile on her face. "Joey!" Lily said trying to calm herself down. "You scared me." She took a second to breathe. "What are you doing up this early anyway?"

"Couldn't sleep," Joey answered with a shrug. "Most people are starting to wake up and coming down anyway." Lily nodded a little. "So did you get everything done?"

"Actually…" Lily said. "We did."

"You sound surprised."

Lily shrugged a little and glanced around the common room. Joey was right – slowly students were starting to walk down the stairs. A few sat down in the common room and took out some school books. Lily guessed they wanted to get the last homework done before classes. However, most students walked through the common room and out of the portrait hole, which clearly explained why the fat lady hated mornings. Actually she hated any time a day where she would have to swing open constantly. "You hungry?" Lily asked Joey.

"Not really," Joey answered with a shrug, "But we have Quidditch practice later so I better eat something."

"Alright then," Lily said with a smile as the two of them started walking out of the common room. "By the way – have you heard we're getting a new potions teacher?" Joey thought about it for a while and shook her head. "Apparently professor Proston has retired so we're getting a new teacher by the name professor Slughorn."

"Why didn't Dumbledore tell us about this at the feast last week?"

Lily shrugged. "I think he said something about them not having found Slughorn before a few days ago. That's why no one has had any potions lessons before today."

"Have I told you, how much I love you being Head Girl?" Joey grinned.

"I don't think so, no." Lily laughed.

"Well I do," Joey laughed a little. "You get all the gossip first."

In the afternoon, the seventh years made their way to one of the dungeons. They entered the chamber and stood behind the cauldrons, as they normally did before potions class. Everyone glanced around the room but there was no sign of any teacher. This caused a lot of talking in the room. The talking stopped immediately as the door opened and someone entered. "Sorry I'm late," the professor said and went up to the desk. He took a look around the classroom. "Right then," he continued. "I'm professor Slughorn, and I have the pleasure of teaching you all about potions this year."

He took a step forward and looked around once again. "So," he spoke up again. "Seventh year. Things are starting to get serious. Not to worry though – I'll have you ready for whatever the world has in store for you." He went over to the board and started writing a few ingredients up on it. As he wrote, he spoke again, "Now, first thing we are looking at this semester, is medicinal potions. Say a wizard is feeling sick because of exhaustion. What kind of potion would be a good idea to give him?" He looked around the classroom. "Anyone?"

Lily swallowed before she put her hand up. "Yes," Professor Slughorn said with a smile. "Name first, please then answer."

"Lily Evans," Lily answered. "And couldn't you use -"

"Don't answer a question with a question, dear. It makes you sound like you are not sure you are right."

"But I'm not," Lily said confused.

"Right, but never let your professor, know that." Professor Slughorn looked away from Lily and turned to the rest of your class. "You should always stand by your answer. That shows confidence and if it turns out to be right, the professor will be convinced that you have studied hard, and know what you are talking about." He smiled satisfied with his explanation, then turned back from Lily, "Now what did you want to say, Ms. Evans? What potion should we give this wizard?"

"I would suggest a Dreamless Sleep Potion, sir," Lily answered, remembering what Slughorn had just talked about.

He nodded slowly. "Why is that?"

"Well," Lily said thoughtfully. "If this wizard is suffering from exhaustion, then this could be caused by stress. And this stress might be haunting him in his sleep. A dreamless sleep would give him the energy to overcome the exhaustion, and he wouldn't have to worry about any nightmares that would bring the exhaustion back the next day."

Slughorn continued nodding. "Excellent Ms. Evans," he said. "Five points to Gryffindor." Lily smiled to herself. Slughorn walked back up to the board. "Ms. Evans is right, and a Dreamless Sleep potion is exactly what we will be doing today." He finished writing the ingredients up on the board, then walked over to his desk. "I knew I had a list somewhere…" He murmured to himself, before he finally found the parchment he had been looking for. "Right then," he said a little louder, "Pairs for today are: Mr. Potter and Mr. Simms, Ms. Richard and Mr. Lupin, Mr. Black and Ms. Potter, Mr. Pettigrew and Ms. Reyers, Mr. Snape and Ms. Evans, Mr. Davis and Ms. Thomas…"

As Slughorn read the pairs from the parchment, the seventh years slowly found their partner and started finding the ingredients and a cauldron. Thirty minutes later, the potions were boiling in the different cauldrons.

"So," Angelica asked Remus as she stirred their potion. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Shoot," Remus answered and poured some calming draft into the cauldron.

"Are you upset about not being chosen as Head Boy?" Remus looked up from the potion and turned his attention to her instead. "I mean, you were prefect through our fifth and sixth year."

"I was," Remus nodded. He thought about her question for a while. "And no, I don't mind not being picked. I think two years with that kind of responsibility was enough. You have to make sure every student is obeying the school rules, and you have to be a sort of role model to them by doing that yourself."

"Was that a problem, Remus?" Angelica asked with a smile.

Remus shrugged with a small laugh. "I guess we all have a problem with that every now and then." Angelica laughed at that comment. "What? Never broke a school rule, Ms. Richard?"

"I never said that," Angelica answered. "I was agreeing with your point." She took out a mug and poured some of their potion into it, "Cheers," she said and handed Remus the mug.

"Wait a minute," he said. "Why do I have to drink it?"

"Because I made it," Angelica said. "And homework for tomorrow is for one of us to drink it. Now go on, you have to drink it while it is hot – and it takes about ten hours to work."

"Fine," Remus said. "Cheers." He drank the potion as fast as he could. He had a weird expression on his face once he had swallowed it. "Merlin that tasted worse than the potions I -" he cut himself of once he realized what he was about to say, "I mean than I expected."

"Yeah, well I never said it was going to taste like pumpkin juice," Angelica said.

Sirius suddenly came over to them with a mug in his hand. "Hey Moony," he said with a grin to Remus. "I thought we should make a toast."

"Sorry, mate," Remus said. "I'm not drinking that stuff again."

"Too bad," Sirius said. He was about to leave when he glanced into the cauldron in front of him. "Looks a little green doesn't it?" He shrugged before leaving and walking over to James. "Prongs!" He called and walked over to James. Remus and Angelica both looked into their cauldron but none of them said anything.

Sirius and James came down from the boys' dormitories. They had taken a bath after Quidditch practice, and were now joining their friends in the common room. Peter and Remus were sitting by the fireplace, waiting for them. Soon after, Joey came down from the girls' dormitories and joined Lily, Simone and Angelica at one of the tables in their common room. The three of them had been doing some homework before dinner.

"I don't feel too good," Remus said suddenly.

"It's a full moon soon," Peter said. "Maybe that's why."

"No," Remus said and put a hand on his stomach. "This feels different."

"You know what can cure just about any disease?" Sirius said with a smile. "Food. And my stomach is telling me, that dinner is ready."

"You should get someone to look at that stomach, Padfoot," James said with a laugh. "But I must admit; it never fails."

"Right you are, Prongs. Now let's go." The Marauders walked out of the common room. Angelica, Lily, Simone and Joey watched them leave and decided they were kind of hungry as well, and Sirius always knew when dinner was served. They got up and followed them to the Great Hall.

"I don't feel good at all," Remus said when they were half way there. His three friends looked at him in concern. Suddenly Remus felt his legs give in under him and he fell to the ground.

The four girls turned a corner and saw Remus lying on the floor and the rest of the Marauders kneeling next to him. "Remus!" Joey yelled as she ran towards them. Angelica, Simone and Lily followed her. "What happened?" Joey asked as she knelt by Remus side and tried to wake him up.

"He just…" Peter said in shock, "Went out cold."

Joey looked at Peter with fear in her eyes. "We have to get him to the hospital wing," she heard Lily say behind her.

James and Peter lifted Remus up and started carrying him to the hospital wing, sharing the load between them. This way they could move faster. Back in the corridor, everyone was staring after them. Sirius put an arm around Joey's shoulders to comfort her a bit. "That potion did look green," he said.

Joey looked up at him quickly with a confused look on her face. "Green?" she asked. "You mean the Dreamless Sleep potion?" Sirius nodded. Joey turned her head to Lily, who looked concerned as well.

"That potion," Lily said, "Was supposed to be brown." Joey nodded because that was the colour she and Sirius had gotten as well. Lily turned to Angelica. "Did you put all the ingredients in that potion?"

"I think so," Angelica said thinking back on what had happened that afternoon. "We took all of the ingredients out for us to use."

"Lily," Joey said. "What made the potion turn from green to brown?"

Lily thought about it for a while. "Daisy roots should do it," Lily said.

They all looked at Angelica again. "I don't think either of us put that in the potion," she said quietly.

"We should let madam Pomfrey know," Sirius said. Joey nodded and the two of them hurried down the corridor.

The following day, Joey, James and Sirius were walking towards the castle. The sun was out and the temperature was perfect, so James had called a Quidditch practice. They were all wearing their Quidditch uniform, though it was dirtier than a few hours ago. "How was Remus doing this morning?" James asked. He had had yet another meeting with Lily, so he hadn't been able to go see Remus. They were meeting again in a few minutes.

"He was still sleeping," Joey said and looked down. "Are you going to the hospital wing?" She asked Sirius, knowing her brother had other plans.

"Actually I…" Sirius said then thought about it quickly. "Yeah," he said again.

"Tell him I said hello," James said and waved before walking away from Sirius and Joey, heading towards the Gryffindor common room.

Sirius and Joey continued walking down the corridor towards the hospital wing. They opened the doors and walked inside. They had both been there earlier, so they knew, which bed Remus was laying in. "Joey," Sirius said rather nervous and in a low voice. "Maybe we should just head back to the common room. I have a charms essay that I could use some help with."

"What?" Joey said. She turned her head and her eye caught something that was probably the reason for Sirius' suggestion. Remus was awake and apparently already had someone visiting him. The two of them were laughing together, and just as Joey turned her head and saw them, they kissed. It wasn't a long, passionate kiss, but not the kind of kiss you would give your aunt either. Joey felt the speed of her heart rate raise with anger. She turned around and walked out of the hospital wing, leaving Sirius behind.

Remus and Angelica heard her footsteps as she left and looked up. Sirius crossed his arms and looked at them with raised eyebrows. "Looks like you're feeling a lot better, Remus," Sirius said.

Back in the common room, James had only just sat down at one of the tables with Lily, when the portrait swung open and an angry Joey entered. "Hey Jo," James said rather surprised. "How was -"

"If you say his name," Joey cut him off angrily as she pointed at him, "I swear I'm gonna kick you so hard you won't be able to fly for a month." With that she walked across the common room and ran up the stairs to the girls' dormitories.

Angelica and Sirius walked into the common room. "Joey!" Angelica called after her. She hadn't expected Joey to come back down, so when that didn't happen, she wasn't surprised at all.

"What happened?" Lily asked, forgetting all about the Head duties she had to discuss with James.

"Nothing," Angelica said quickly before Sirius could say anything.

"Sirius?" James said, knowing Sirius was bad at keeping secret, especially from his friends.

Sirius let out a sigh. "Joey and I caught Richard here," he nodded towards Angelica, "And Remus kissing."

"You know," James said tiredly, "you could have just said 'nothing' and I wouldn't have questioned it," his voiced turned angrier, "But what are you talking about? Angelica?" As his eyes landed on Angelica her face dropped to look at the floor. She slowly started to move towards the portrait hole and walked out.

When she finally returned to the common room it was late in the evening. She had spent most of her day trying to avoid Joey. That hadn't been hard at all, because clearly Joey was trying to avoid her as well. She saw Simone and Lily studying in the common room, but didn't walk over to them. She returned to their dormitory. She noticed Joey was already in bed, but she wasn't sure whether she was sleeping or not. Without saying anything, Angelica went straight to bed.

A/N: I know it's kind of short, but I wanted to get this up today – and the day is running out in approx. 23 minutes. Hope you enjoyed it – and thanks to all, who reviewed! Until next chapter - cheers. ;)


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

A few days later the Gryffindor Quidditch team was once again outside practicing in the sun. The students had been back at Hogwarts for almost four weeks now, and everyone seemed to have found their own routines again. The first years were still a bit nervous, but not as much as they had been in the beginning of the semester. Since the sun was out, some of the students had decided to study on the grounds instead of in the common rooms or library.

"Great practice everyone!" James yelled and called everyone to the ground. "I have reserved the pitch on Thursday, so you have two days off. I'll see you all at seven o'clock on Thursday then." The Gryffindor Quidditch team started walking towards the castle with their brooms under their arms.

James and Sirius turned as they noticed someone missing. "Hey Joey," Sirius said called back when they realized Joey was still in the middle of the pitch. "Are you coming?"

"No," Joey answered. "I'm gonna stay a while." Before James or Sirius could say anything else, she kicked off of the ground and flew into the air.

James and Sirius looked at each other and shook their heads. None of them knew what to say, and neither of them blamed her for reacting like this. "What time is it?" James suddenly asked as they started walking again.

"About five o'clock I guess," Sirius said with a small shrug.

"Oh no," James said. "I have a Heads meeting with Lily – I'll see you later!" With that he hurried towards the castle.

"You're suddenly on first name basis?" Sirius yelled after him with a laugh. James didn't respond, and Sirius wasn't sure if it was because he hadn't heard it or just chose to ignore it.

James ran down the corridor towards the Gryffindor common room. He suddenly saw McGonagall walking in the opposite direction. He quickly slowly down as he passed her, then picked up speed again. "I'm sorry," James said out of breath as he finally made it into the Gryffindor common room. He was standing in front of the table Lily was sitting at.

"Don't worry about it," Lily said. "Take a seat."

James eyed her for a split-second. No complaints? He wondered about it for a while before taking a seat across from her. He nodded a little before saying, "What have we got today?"

"Not much really," Lily said and looked through the pieces of parchment she had in front of her. She started talking about the different headlines on the piece of parchment. They discussed back and forth every now and then, but seemed to reach the same conclusion quickly.

Fifteen minutes later, Lily was reaching the final headlines on the parchments. "Then we have a few feedbacks; it seems that your talk with the Hufflepuff prefects worked. They're working together and we have no more complaints from the Hufflepuff students or any of the professors." James nodded satisfied. "Finally, professor Dumbledore wanted to remind us about the autumn ball. The professors decided to cancel the graduation ball, and instead of a Yule ball, they decided to have it in November instead. We have been chosen to be in charge of it." James nodded again. "I'm waiting for more information on the date, et cetera. Until then, there's not really much we can do."

James nodded yet again with a small smile. "Great work, Lily," he said and looked into her eyes. "Really! You have everything under control."

"Thank you," Lily said with a smile. James noticed she blushed a little. Nevertheless, she didn't comment on him using her first name. Earlier she would have yelled at him and stomped off. He thought about it for a while, then remembered that would usually happen right after he had asked her to go on a date with him. "Are you all right?" Lily asked making his thoughts come back to the present.

"Yes," James said quickly. "Thanks."

"I have been meaning to ask you something," Lily said looking down. James noticed she was playing nervously with the parchment in her hands. "Where exactly were you this summer?"

James looked at her again. Normally they wouldn't talk about anything else than their duties as Headboy and Headgirl. He cleared his throat to get some extra time to think of what to say. "All around really," he answered. "I went to the highlands in Scotland and spend some time in Portsmouth as well."

Lily eyed him in disbelief. He noticed a small smirk form on her lips. "You spend times with muggles, didn't you?"

"Well I needed some muggle money," James admitted. "So I worked on one some of the ships in the port. I visited some wizards as well though - _Kennilworthy Whisp for example. He is a -"_

_"Writer," Lily said, finishing his sentence._

_"Yes," James said surprised. "How did you know that? He writes books about Quidditch."_

_"I know," Lily said and blushed again. James couldn't help but smile once he noticed this. She looked cute when she was embarrassed. He shook his head quickly getting the thought out of his head. He had promised himself to stop thinking like that. "To be honest, I read one of his books a few years ago to understand the game better," Lily continued. She obviously hadn't noticed the sudden shaking of his head. "Everyone seems so interested in the game, so I decided to try to figure out, what was so special about it."_

_"Did you?"_

_"Not really," Lily answered honestly. "I mean it sounds like fun – but I guess it is a lot different when you actually play it. I mean a lot more fun."_

_"I could show you some time," James suggested. "I could teach you the game."_

_"Oh no," Lily laughed nervously. "Flying is not really… my thing."_

_"You can't be that bad," James said with a smile. "Meet me on the pitch Friday evening. I won't take no for an answer." Lily smiled in return and something told him she really would show up on Friday. _

_Joey landed softly on the grass of the Quidditch pitch. She was exhausted from the extra flying. She looked up towards the castle and decided she didn't feel like going back. Instead she sat down on the grass and looked up towards the sky. She pulled her legs up and wrapped her arms around them. "Hey," she heard someone say behind her. She quickly stood up and spun around to face the person. She opened her mouth to say something but it shut immediately when she saw it was Remus. "I thought practice ended an hour ago."_

_"It did," Joey said simply._

_Remus let out a sigh and took a step towards her. "Look I realize I might not be your favourite person in the world at the moment."_

_"Not exactly, no."_

_"I guess we need to talk," Remus spoke again, ignoring her last comment. _

_"Never mind, Remus," Joey said and let out a sigh. "It's all right." She walked past him to head towards the castle._

_Remus grabbed her arm and held her back. She turned and faced him again with a tired look. "It's not all right Joey," he said. She noticed the guilt in his eyes as he continued, "If I were you I would hate me." Joey looked down without saying anything. "It wasn't something I expected to happen, and I certainly didn't wish for you to find out the way you did."_

"So sneak around behind my back would be a better idea?" Joey asked angrily looking up again.

"That's hardly fair. I -"

"Hardly fair?!" Joey interrupted him feeling the anger rise to her cheeks. "You know, what's 'hardly fair'? Catching your boyfriend kissing one of your good friends and afterwards being told that they didn't want you to know – that's hardly fair." Remus opened his mouth to say something but Joey came ahead of him. "I'm not looking for an explanation, Remus, because frankly I don't think I will ever understand. One minute she poisons you, the next you're kissing her." She paused to breathe.

"I don't know how to explain it, Joey," Remus said quietly. "Even though Angelica poisoned me I care about her."

Joey bit her lip hard. "Well then I hope you're happy," she said with a much weaker voice. She pulled her arm towards herself, so Remus was forced to let go of it. She turned around again and walked quickly towards the castle. Remus didn't try to stop her this time.

As she walked across the grounds and into the Entrance hall, Joey kept biting her lip to stop the tears that were forming in her eyes. She looked up from the ground as she walked up the stairs. She let out a sigh when she noticed, who were standing at the top of the staircase. Three boys in Slytherin uniforms were looking at her with their arms crossed over their chest. She knew who they were. They were all in her year.

Malachi Conway was standing in the middle. His spiky, blonde hair matched the light grey eyes. To his left was Dermot Reed – a tall and clumsy boy. He was always following Conway around. Joey often wondered if Reed had an opinion of his own. Finally, Severus Snape was standing a step behind Conway. Normally Snape would be alone in the dungeons. He rarely spend any time with other students out of classrooms.

"Look who we have here," Conway grinned as Joey reached the top of the stairs. "Having a hard day, Ms. Potter?"

"It's none of your business," Joey answered coldly and kept walking.

"I asked you politely," Conway said and grabbed her arm. Joey looked at him angrily, which only made him tighten his grab. She was getting tired of people trying to hold her back.

"Let go of me."

"I heard what happened between you and lover boy," Conway continued. Joey tried to get her arm free but Conway kept holding on. "You're better off without him." Joey eyed him not knowing what his point was. Conway leaned over to whisper something in her ear. Joey tried to pull away but he tightened his grab even tighter. Joey closed her eyes as she started to feel the pain shoot through her arm. "You really do deserve better," Conway whispered.

"What would your Slytherin friends say if they knew you were hitting on a Gryffindor student?" Joey asked and raised her eyebrows.

"You made a mistake asking that question, Potter," Conway said angrily. "And now you will never know."

"Fine by me," Joey said and moved her arm again.

"I don't think so," Conway said and kept holding on. "See, I'm not quite done with you." He started twisting her arm around. Joey bit her tongue as more pain hit her.

"Oh I think you are," a familiar voice said behind them. Conway spun around and saw Sirius staring back at him. "Let go of her."

"Sirius Black to the rescue, eh?"

"That's right," Sirius said and walked up to Conway. He hit Conway hard on his wrist, so he was forced to let go of Joey. "Now get lost." For some strange reason Conway did as he was told. He walked away quickly. Snape and Reed followed him without saying a word. They only eyed Sirius, who send them a cold look in return. "Are you all right?" Sirius asked Joey once the Slytherins were gone.

"I'll be fine," Joey answered. The pain in her arm slowly started to disappear again. "Thanks." She send him a smile, which fated quickly.

"You're welcome," Sirius said slowly. "You know, Joey, you have been through a lot lately, so if you ever -"

"Thanks," Joey cut him off. "But I'm fine." She was getting tired of people trying to tell her what to do or offering their help. She did not need any help. She was perfectly capable of handling her own feelings without dumping her problems on others.

"Come on, Joey," Sirius said not letting go of the subject. "You and I both know-"

"You were going to meet Theresa, weren't you?" Joey asked to change the subject.

"Yes, but-"

"Then you shouldn't keep her waiting." Joey looked up and met his eyes. "She's a nice girl, Sirius."

"She is," Sirius said and looked back into Joey's eyes. "But if you need-"

"Like I said I'm good."

"You keep cutting me off."

"That's because I know what you are going to say," Joey said with a sigh. "You're going to say the exact same thing everyone has been telling me. I'm fine. I just need everyone to leave me alone for a while."

This time it was Sirius' turn to let out a sigh. "You shouldn't be alone. You should get the chance to talk about everything that has happened. If you keep going on like this you will get upset about the tiniest things."

"Why can't you just accept that I'm fine?" Joey yelled feeling the anger in her rise again.

"You see what I'm talking about?" Sirius yelled back. "When we broke up, which we agreed to do, you got angry because they served nettle tea instead of pumpkin juice. You didn't stop before you and I sat down and talked about it."

"I am not angry!"

"Then why are you yelling at me in the middle of a corridor?"

"I-" This time Joey cut herself off. She opened her mouth to say something again but no words came out. The lack of words frustrated her and she started biting her lip once again. She felt uncomfortable and felt like running away, but her legs wouldn't move. The palms of her hands started to get sweaty and her heart rate speeded up.

Sirius clearly noticed something was wrong. He took a step closer to her and pulled her into a hug. "It's all right, Jo," he whispered in her ear. Joey felt herself giving in. Her anger wasn't enough to hold back the tears any longer. He had broken the shell, taken the anger away and forced her to go against her believes of not letting anyone see her cry.

She wasn't sure how long he had been hugging her, but it was long enough for her to get his shoulder wet with tears. "Oh look at you," Joey said and pulled away from him while whipping the remaining tears on her cheeks away.

"Don't worry about it," Sirius said with a smile.

Joey returned the smile then suddenly remembered something, "How horrible of me," she said and ran a nervous hand through her hair. "Here you have to comfort me while you were on your way to meet your girlfriend."

"She'll understand," Sirius said positively. "I just needed to make sure you were all right."

"I'm fine," Joey said for the one hundredth time that day, "honestly this time." She smiled. "Now go on Superman, there's another girl waiting to be saved." Sirius laughed and walked away from her.

Joey looked down and realized she was still in her Quidditch uniform. She made her way quickly to the girls' bathroom where she was able to take a shower. She knew her eyes must have been blood red, which was why she was in such a hurry. When she got out of the shower her eyes were still red, but it only looked like she had gotten some soap in her eyes.

She dried herself with a simple spell and took on her school uniform. She felt her stomach rumbling and realized dinner most have started. She left her Quidditch uniform where she her school uniform had been. No one would take it, and she told herself she would be back after dinner to pick it up. This was something she normally did after Quidditch practice.

Joey walked through the door of the Great Hall and suddenly felt a lot better. She didn't feel angry or upset for the first time in days. She smiled to herself and walked over to the Gryffindor table. She took a seat next to Lily, who had already started eating. Joey looked down the table and her eyes caught Sirius' eyes. She send him a grateful smile, which he returned. She guessed everything had gone well with Theresa.

"How was your afternoon?" Joey asked Lily with a smile as she started taking food onto her plate.

"Actually," Lily said and swallowed a piece of bread. "It was quite good."

Later that evening Lily had gone to the library to reassure herself that she had gotten her research correct. She walked straight to the aisle with books about potions. She walked passed a table where she found someone she did not expect to find in a place full of books. "Are you lost?" Lily asked the boy in front of her.

He looked up and his hazel eyes met her emerald green. "Hilarious," he said with a smile. "What bring you here this late?"

"It's eight o'clock, James," Lily said but nevertheless, she smiled. "And I'm here to check up on some research. What about you?"

He shrugged as he answered, "I just came here to do some reading." Lily eyed him. He returned the look, which made her replay the scene in her head again. This was certainly a situation she thought she would never see James Potter in. She sat down and talked to him for a few minutes.

Once Lily walked back out of the library she saw Joey coming from the girls' bathroom. She had her Quidditch uniform under her arm. She smiled when she saw Lily. "Got everything done?" Joey asked her.

Lily suddenly remembered why she had come into the library in the first place. She had completely forgotten about that once she had started talking to James. "Yes," Lily lied. She quickly changed the subject before Joey noticed this. "You won't believe, who I met in there – your brother."

"Was he lost?" Joey asked.

Lily laughed. "No," she answered. "He was there to do some reading."

Joey raised her eyebrows. "I have officially heard it all," she said with a laugh. She suddenly eyed Lily while a smirk formed on her lips. "You and James seem to get along well lately."

"I suppose we are," Lily said. "We have to – there's no point in working with someone you're constantly yelling at."

"True," Joey said. "But when you are doing business as Head Boy and Head Girl you're forced to work together. No one forced you to talk to him in the library. As far as I can tell, you didn't bite his head off like you did when we were younger" Lily rolled her eyes, which only made Joey's smile grow wider.

The two of them gave the password to the fat lady and entered the Gryffindor common room. Inside they noticed Simone and Angelica sitting by the fireplace. Other than that a few first years were the only ones in the common room. Lily wondered where everyone was, but didn't have time to question it further. Both Angelica and Simone walked up to them. Simone smiled nervously to Lily, who could only return it.

"Could I have a word with you?" Angelica asked Joey.

"_A_ word," Joey answered coldly. Her good mood suddenly disappeared. "Here's the word then: Bye."

Angelica let out a sigh. "Come on, Joey are you going to avoid me forever?"

Joey pretended she was thinking about it. "No…" she finally said. "I just don't want to talk to you."

"So that's it? Do we just forget about our friendship? We've been friends since our first year."

"I think you forgot about our friendship when you decided to kiss Remus," Joey said tiredly. Angelica opened her mouth to say something but Joey didn't feel like continuing this conversation. She walked past Angelica and up the stairs to the girls' dormitory. She knew Angelica would have to follow her sooner or later, since they shared the same dormitory, but she chose not to think about that at the moment.

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A/N: Sorry it took so long to get this up but I've been buried under a pile of homework. Then I got sick, which gave me the time to finish it. So I hope you like it – and reviews are always welcome!


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